


don't leave me here alone (The Late Night Oil Mix)

by afrocurl



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-15 04:22:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4592682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darwin's life as Editor-in-Chief is endlessly complicated when the most notorious exes are still on staff. </p><p>But, maybe, just maybe, he can use their angst for the good of the order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	don't leave me here alone (The Late Night Oil Mix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [endlesshorizons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlesshorizons/gifts).
  * Inspired by [don't leave me here alone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4197717) by [endlesshorizons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlesshorizons/pseuds/endlesshorizons). 



> I hope you enjoy this remix. It was great to work within this world.

Darwin always imagined himself a cool and collected person, but right about now - three hours from deadline with two-quarter columns to fill, he was going to explode.

Quite possibly literally if Charles and Erik didn’t stop yelling.

“We want the same thing,” Erik said emphatically.

“My friend, I’m sorry, but we do not.” Charles’ eyes were stony and cold, colder than his usual disposition. Perhaps trying to broker peace between them wasn’t the best idea. It would solve so many of the staff’s problems, though;since Darwin had taken over as Editor-in-Chief their animosity had been well known but they only had another seven months on staff and he felt that they should end their college reporting careers as colleagues not enemies.

Darwin watched as the rest of the staff just looked at each of them wide-eyed and awestruck, their usual expressions stolen away by the screaming match that was bubbling up. Everyone knew Charles and Erik’s history - they were soulmates for years and then they weren’t - and Darwin knew that this idea would be good or bad for the paper’s Arts and Leisure Section depending on how each of them approached the column.

“Listen, both of you,” he started, “you’re going to do this because I’m telling you, unless you both want to be done writing for this paper. You already should be done with the paper, but you seem to hang onto this one place for dear life. I’m not a telepath and I can figure out why.”

He took a position between both of them, knowing he could stop anything that Erik might fling at Charles and he’d be no worse for wear after a minute. He couldn’t say the same thing for the rest of the office if Erik’s attack bounced off and flew to the walls.

“Secondly, you’re perfect for this. You are the perfect example of what can happen in open and honest conversations about soulmates. You did have a few moments of happiness before everything else went to shit, right?”

“Soulmates are meant to be sacred,” Erik said, “if only everyone would realize that.”

“I did realize that. But then I also know that life interrupts what the soul wants. You aren’t the only one who’s had multiple names.”

The look Erik shot Charles could have caused staples to fly towards Charles, but Darwin stood firm between them.

“So you’re both going to write this column for the rest of the semester and you can do that without having to come into the office. I’ll edit them.”

“But that’s my job,” Alex said.

“Alex, you won’t want to handle this, so just do the rest of A&L and be grateful I can do some of your job and mine at the same time.”

Alex mumbled something but sat down while Erik and Charles still looked ready to fight. Darwin wished he had just emailed the two of them rather than asking in front of the whole staff. But no, he had to be the one who was transparent and honest as an Editor. Everything that Sebastian hadn’t been.

Darwin tried not to visibly respond to what he’d seen Sebastian do to Erik time and time again. The taunting was bad, but the belittling of Erik’s talent had almost been enough for the rest of last year’s staff - Emma and Charles among them - to remove Sebastian as Editor-in-Chief.

It hadn’t worked, but Erik still bore the emotional scars of having met Charles, only to see another name of his chest where Erik must have hoped to see his. Charles was no less affected, but he took all of his issues with his soulmate in stride.

“So, I’ll give you the question tomorrow after this is put to bed and you’ll both answer honestly in 250 or less. Understood?”

“Understood,” Erik said.

Charles just nodded.

“Now, if you both don’t mind, you two aren’t necessary for putting this issue to bed, so get the hell out of here.”

Neither needed to be told twice and only once the door slammed - twice - did Darwin say, “Now, we have two hours, get your shit done.”

-

> I first saw my soulmate’s name when I was five and I’m sure I’ll meet her soon. But I also really like another girl in my dorm. Is it okay to sleep with someone for the first time who isn’t my soulmate?

Darwin’s eyes were nearly bloodshot from all the work of finishing up the last issue, but he needed to get the question to Charles and Erik before he slept for a few hours before his 8 AM Russian class. He didn’t really like what he was staring at, but he knew that this was the mostly politely worded question on a subject that the paper came across. Because when it came to soulmates, there was never an easy answer.

Darwin felt lucky that he found Alex when he did, even if they constantly wondered how they found each other at all, especially when they met at The Big E one hot June day.

But there were people like Charles and Erik - who probably thought the moon of their soulmate before the rest of life’s plans got in the way and suddenly there was a new name and a fresh ache.

Maybe, just maybe, this letter would get the two of them to some middle ground where they each might hope to have the other return to them. For those five weeks when they first met, Darwin remembered how perfect they were.

Now they were here.

He copied and pasted the text in an email to the two of them before adding:

> Do not reply to each other. If you do, you’re done.
> 
> Remember, 250 by Monday night.

-

Your soulmate is special, and never let anyone tell you otherwise. I had to deal with the stigma of having a male soulmate as a kid, and it stung worse than you can imagine. But, life had a way of getting in the way of things and after ten years, the name on my chest changed. I still felt strongly about my first soulmate, but I felt something for my second soulmate as well. 

She was the one I slept with first. It felt like a betrayal to my first soulmate, but it also wasn’t. We had a connection - this girl and I - and when we slept together, it made life feel better. Not great, but better. 

I never regretted sleeping with her, but we hurt each other in other ways and soon we broke up. My first name reappeared, which I thought meant we had a second chance. 

That was the bigger lie. There’s never a second chance or going back in time. 

We never slept with each other in a way that felt as meaningful as the time with my other soulmate. It wasn’t the same. He was distant and our relationship was strained from the start. It was really a last-ditch attempt to get back what we might have had if we’d met as kids. He had a new name and felt he needed her, not me. 

But maybe it won’t be that way for you. I just know I felt different and so did he. 

Have sex with whomever you want, whenever you want. Soulmates are a part of life, but they change as our lives do, they come they go. Waiting for the right moment with this idealized version of a person will lead to highly over exaggerated expectations and a bad time for all. You’re never good the first time you have sex, trust me I know. I was horrible when I first had sex, but practice made me better at it for when I met my soulmate. Or one of them. The first time I slept with one of my soulmates, it was... 

Back up and let’s be frank, abstinence isn’t going to make you have better sex; it’ll probably be bad sex because you don’t know what you want - or how to get what your partner wants. 

Thinking that the first time is going to have more meaning than it does will only make you miserable. I had plenty of sex before I met my soulmates, but it was clear that one of them still held these unrealistic expectations for what it would mean for us. The sex was bad. Awkward, overly emotional, just bad. Now, I knew it was bad and I knew that we were very different people and we couldn’t work. 

But he wanted to make it something special, something with more meaning than I was capable of. I was glad to use bad sex to move on, even if it hurt him. 

Soulmates hurt you. Everytime. \- Darwin read each reply, and saw where Charles and Erik fundamentally didn’t agree on soulmates. These columns weren’t going to end well for either of them, he knew, but maybe if they could be honest with themselves they could become honest with each other. It was clear that they both knew that their time together hadn’t been good, but Darwin wasn’t sure if they ever told the other one that. Charles’ reliance on his telepathy never sat well with anyone, Erik may be the lone exception, but it didn’t mean that Charles understood what he heard from everyone else. Reading the letters, that much was obvious. Erik placed a high stock in soulmates and what they meant and Charles clearly didn’t. Sighing, Darwin copied and pasted both responses into the layout and put that section aside. There was still News to worry about, and an exceedingly long student government meeting between him and deadline.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [redacted] for the help. Mistakes at this point are mine and mine alone.


End file.
